How Joint Base Lewis-McChord Handled Sexual Assault Cases (Article 120), 2021–2023

Trends › By Installation › Joint Base Lewis-McChord › Article 120, 2021–2023

Based on 36 cases · 2021–2023 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

How Contested Trials Ended

Of 22 contested cases with a verdict, 10 ended in a full acquittal (45%) and 11 in a partial acquittal (50%), meaning not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another. The full-acquittal rate was a little higher than the 42% in all Army Article 120 cases.

Army results list findings charge by charge, which is why partial acquittals are common in Army data. A partial acquittal still leaves a conviction and a sentence on the remaining charges.

Members Heard Most Contested Cases

A military judge alone decided 17 cases, enlisted panels 17, and officer panels 2. Members heard 53% of cases, compared with 48% in all Army Article 120 cases. Among contested cases, members heard 17 of 22 (77%).

The accused usually chooses whether a judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so the split follows how many cases were contested.

Shorter Confinement Than Across the Army

In all, 26 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 24 of those sentences included confinement (92%). The median confinement was 1 year, compared with 1.8 years in the rest of the Army. A quarter of the confinement sentences were 3 years or longer.

These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each covers every charge in the case.

Fewer Sentences Longer Than a Year

12 of 26 convictions (46%) included more than one year of confinement, compared with 53% in the rest of the Army. Sentences of 5 years or more made up 12% of convictions, compared with 16%.

Shorter sentences were more common. Sentences under 6 months were 27% of convictions here and 19% elsewhere. Sentences from 6 months to 1 year were 19%, compared with 14%. Only 8% of convictions included no confinement, compared with 14%.

Pleas and Agreements

Of the 36 accused, 14 pleaded guilty and 22 contested at least one charge. The contested share was 61%, lower than the 71% in the rest of the Army.

Plea agreements are recorded for 12 of the 14 guilty pleas, and 2 have no entry. Army records say whether an agreement existed, not what it said, so any limit an agreement placed on a sentence does not appear here.

Punitive Discharges

A punitive discharge was part of 73% of enlisted convictions: 11 bad-conduct and 8 dishonorable. In Army Article 120 cases overall, the share was 80%. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Assault Was the Most Common Added Charge

Article 120 was charged by itself in 15 of the 36 cases; across the Army, 139 of 376 Article 120 cases charged it alone. At Joint Base Lewis-McChord the most common other charges were Article 128 (assault) in 14 cases, Article 92 (orders violation) and Article 134 (general article) in 6 each, and Article 90 (disobeying an officer) and Article 128b (domestic violence) in 3 each.

An assault charge filed with a sexual assault charge can describe part of the same incident. The records do not divide sentences by charge.

Rank and Court Level

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 64% of the accused. NCOs made up 36%, and there were no officers. Across Army Article 120 cases overall, junior enlisted were 62%.

There were 34 general and 2 special courts-martial. General courts-martial were 94% of cases, about the same as the 95% in the rest of the Army. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge, while a special court-martial caps confinement at one year.

Timing, Law, and Limits

From January 2021 to August 2023, the data holds 36 cases: 19 in 2021, 10 in 2022, and 7 in 2023. Sexual assault was charged in 27% of the 135 courts-martial at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in those years.

Article 120 is a covered offense. The services were required to begin publishing trial records under Article 140a by December 2020, and Army records in this data are sparse before 2021. The records give trial dates rather than offense dates and do not describe the evidence, the plea terms, or allegations handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 120 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

Compare: federal court. Sexual Abuse of an Adult: Federal Cases vs. Article 120 Courts-Martial

About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.